History

«... let’s start, here in Ulm ...»

(studio null, «let’s start,» typescript from June 16, 1948)

Inge Scholl and Otl Aicher were heavily involved in the development of the Ulm Adult Education Center (the vh) after the end of World War Two. They saw political education and environmental design as ways of strengthening democratic ideas, and encouraging the emergence of a new culture.

Inge Scholl founded the Geschwister-Scholl-Stiftung foundation in remembrance of her brother and sister Hans and Sophie Scholl, who were executed in 1943 by the Nazis as members of the «White Rose» resistance group. This foundation became the supporting institution behind the future HfG. From 1949, Inge Scholl, Otl Aicher, and Hans Werner Richter began planning a school of politics and arts in Ulm. Their contact to Max Bill redirected the focus of teaching toward design. John McCloy (the American High Commissioner responsible for Germany) the Norwegian European Aid Program, and the West German Finance Directorate all supported the project financially.